Nightstalkers (antagonist pack)
The Nightstalkers were a Khan-loyal pack of Moonborn with a long and violent history. Their aim was to bring about Khan's ideal world, ridding the Drey of the filthy Sunborn S'feena had tainted it with. They believed that the world was fully free of living Sunborn, and their blood had soaked back into the Drey, Khan would grant them a return to the ideal world He had created so long ago. And those that died in his service, furthering the achievement of this ideal world, would be granted a place among the stars at Khan's side for eternity. For generations, they worked towards this goal, slaughtering packs of Sunborn across the Hassavan plains, their center of operations a series of caves in the Tabbagon mountains. Their name became synonomous with terror, upheld with awe and pride by Moonborn across the Drey, and spoken in hushed, disgusted tones by the tongues of Sunborn, who deemed them irredeemably evil. Under Dalket Dalket was the father of Arrow, a former Alpha of the Nightstalkers. (needs expanding) Under Lord Arrow Lord Arrow inherited the alpha position from his father Dalket, and the Eye of Khan marked upon his pelt seemed to be divine approval of his rulership. He was ambitious and cruel, and the NightStalkers had achieved much notoriety and success in the early years of his leadership. But ultimately, Lord Arrow was insecure and paranoid, covering his self-perceived shortcomings with increasing violence and tyrrany. He had been born without wings, and so precluded all within the pack from unfolding theirs within his presence, his jealousy and perceived potential inferiority leading to great rages. Flying in his presence was a death sentence. His oppression and sadistic control of the pack increased with the mounting failures of his Captains, who had failed on several subsequent raids to purge packs of Sunborn. Murmurs began within the pack, wisely kept from his hearing, secret ambitions and wishes for Lord Arrow's fall. They feared he had lost his path, consumed instead by his anxiety-tainted ambitions, and that they were falling out of Khan's favor, Lord Arrow's violence now turned more inward towards his followers than outward to the Sunborn that deserved their wrath. The Sundering and Lord Arrow's Fall Khan Himself seemed to know that things were amiss within his precious Nightstalkers and their efforts to purge the world of Sunborn, for He sent the Sundering to Tabbagon. On a night when the skies flashed red and dark clouds filled with lightning roiled from nearby Mount Life, the pack members experienced doubt and fear - their god had either judged them unworthy, or abandoned them to the whims of some other god's violence. Leaders within the pack - the Captains Synnfell, Balefur, and Serpen'teer - urged their underlings to take pride in the display, for surely Khan had come himself to issue judgement upon the sunborn. But doubts remained that perhaps they were being judged, for their shortcomings of late. Leaving the capable Dynar to look over the young ones, they sought out their leader, and found him transformed into a miserable beast, quivering, hunched at the back of his private den, muttering to himself in a stuttering prayer to Khan as terror glazed his eyes. Serpen'teer barked for him to come out, to take his place as leader and guide them, but a haughty disdain tinted her words. Arrow responded by rising and rushing out with anger, calling Synnfell - ever loyal Synnfell - to his side so that they might ease the fears of the pack. The female, long infatuated with their leader but never having acted on her interest, fell into step at his side, putting her doubts and shock at seeing him so weak aside, in the interest of keeping the pack safe and calm. Arrow launched into a mighty speech, Serpen'teer stifling her own laughter at his sudden change of mood as he played the brave one on a rock overlooking the lower reaches of the densite. As Lord Arrow bellowed out to his followers, the mountainside above the alpha and his captains groaned, and then began to crack, great sharp shots echoing down to their ears, but not reaching those of the others far below, still caught in their uneasy murmurings. As the first great shudder reached their feet, Serpen'teer lept into the air, spreading wide her wings despite the decree against flight in Lord Arrow's presence. Calling for all to flee down the mountainside, she swooped overhead, Synnfell's glare locked upon her for her transgression of flight. But even Arrow's most loyal follower could not discount the wisdom of taking to the air, for cracks were running down the mountain, as if to swallow the pack whole. Balefur and Dynar took command of those around them, urging those with wings into flight, and aiding those without down the mountainside. Arrow, meanwhile, panicked, and raced down the mountainside full-tilt, eyes blind to the plight of those under his care. In fact, he bowled over several of the younger members in his haste to escape with his own hide intact. Synnfell bristled at the distasteful image of the supposedly powerful leader turning tail and abandoning his pack, but her eye was again drawn towards the other female dark, Serpen'teer, one who was out of Arrow's favor already and even now hovering over him, taunting him, wings spread wide as the wingless leader tried to escape the rusing cracks opening all around. Torn between her loyalty to her alpha, her anger against Serpen'teer for disrespecting him, and her disgust with her alpha for his cowardice, she too took to the sky, following the pair. She was the only one to bear witness to what happened next, for the rest of the pack was fleeing down the mountainside. Arrow, however, had become cornered as a crack opened before him, and the laughing Serpen'teer descended from the skies to attack. Synnfell circled, undecided as to whether she should help her alpha, or let either Sepen'teer or Khan Himself punish the pitiful Dark for his cowardice and other sins. In the end, she opted to simply bear witness, and watched as the two Darks exchanged blows, granting each other fresh blood and new scars. But at last, the paw of Khan grew tired with Serpen'teer's play, and shook the Drey once more. Arrow fell screaming into the chasm at his feet, Serpen'teer's laughter following him as his body was swallowed and crushed by the hungry Drey. The victorious female lifted again to the air, her eye lost in the battle, but so much more gained in the new freedom with Arrow gone. Synnfell watched, then followed, and the two ushered their pack mates down the mountain, finding eventual safety in the plains beyond. The End of the Nightstakers; The Birth of Eyes of Khan The remnants pack regathered on the Hassavan plains, many lost to the chasms and rock falls, others simply disappeared in the chaos. They were informed of Arrow's demise, surely a result of his fall from grace in Khan's eyes. There was much uncertainty then as to what would happen to the remaining pack members, but Serpen'teer pushed Balefur forward. The Dark male's pelt gleamed an unearthly white, once a brand that set him apart unfavorably from his dark-hued kin. But his strange coloration made him a perfect match for the gaze of Khan, the two gleaming moons set high in the night sky. Balefur would be Khan's new emissary upon the Drey, and lead them again to glory, towards the ideal world. Serpen'teer would be at his side, later becoming his mate. Dynar and Synnfell were given honored positions as Betas, and the names of Arrow, never again to be a Lord in their words, and the Nightstalkers were left behind. The pack was now the Eyes of Khan, and they would find again the glory that the weak Dark, devoured in Khan's wrath against him, had denied them in his tyranny and weakness. Category:history Category:aershaa Category:packs